Santorini sightings

[55bloke]

We're just back from a week on the stunning Greek island of Santorini. All the usual sort of stuff you'd expect to see on a Greek island was there... nothing very exciting, but thought I may as well post, since I went to the trouble of taking the pics!! Forgive poor quality of many of them- they were taken through the tinted windows of speeding buses!

Not really sure where to start so, in no particular order:

A few Audis:

quite a few early Astras, Kadetts and Corsas still in use:

This one photographed through the windscreen of a bus... from the back seat!!

Nearly missed this larger cousin

Given that the Greeks famously hate the Germans, I was surprised by how many Beemers, Veedubs and Mercs there are!

 

How about a commercial interlude?

Spectacularly derelict bus

Hanomags!

No idea!

Ancient Merc water tanker:

Ok, that'll do for part one.. more in a few mins.

[retrogeezer]

Great stuff, and I'd love to go to Santorini too.

[55bloke]

Ok, how about some Fords?

Sierras first

was gutted I almost missed the wonderfully shite Sierra in that pic, but saw it again later!

This Mk 2 Escort was outside a place called Wild Wheels, and thre were at least two more round the back.

This Mk 4 Cortina was in daily use, and was sat vary strangely high on it's springs

My best spot of the trip, I think - - LOVELY Taunus

and one for Fred- unbelievably tidy Tranny

More to follow.......

[55bloke]

More...

Lots of Ladas -

Not sure if this IS a Lada, or one of those copies... bonus points for the Mk1 Fiesta in the same shot?

This one looks like it means business!

and I think this is what passes for customising!

Nice battered Pug

Shitey Fiat

It's smaller cousins were, of course, everywhere!

Though I think this is much cooler!

and in a similar, but slightly more modern vein

I was amazed at the prices being asked for shite motors out there- - look at this! And, it's not at all unusual.

 

[55bloke]

Loads of old Jap tat about too:

Can't tell from the pic, but this is an estate.

Improbably unscarred old Datty!

These are, understandably, very popular. The perfect way to get around a Greek island!

The wost hazzard when taking pics from a moving bus, is street furniture getting in shot!

Another double points pic- - see the stripped Mk 2 Escort shell in the back ground?

Had to get a few shots of old Renners!! Sadly, I missd a tidy looking 30, and couple of 5s (including a turbo). I also missed a Citroen DS mouldering away behind a garage.

Finally from the island, I just could NOT resist this! Autoshite, of a sort!!

Had to go back to the travel agent when we got back home, to exchange some Euros, and I was stunned to see this in the car park-- don't think I've ever seen one before!

 

Well, that's all folks. Hope you enjoy. Oh, and DO go to Santorini if you get chance- what a STUNNING place!

[brammy777]

And you said you saw nothing special! Thats a very impressive haul, well done. Regarding what you said about expensive used cars over there, Norway is the same. That price would be the same there too. The Thema is excellent.

[Mr Lobster]

Excellent spots.Agreed about Santorini, it really is stunning. Went there about five years ago and would love to go back at some point. The view of the island from the ferry as you arrive is very very impressive.

[VWPowered]

cant beat a holiday haul of piccy's

 

love this one

 

[trigger]

Wow that's an early one with a boot uninstead of the hatch! Nice photos!

[55bloke]

Well spotted!! I have to admit, I hadn't even noticed that!!

[ChinaTom]

Lancia is a Peterborough reg - a few digits away from my Mum's old Peugeot 205.That may belong to an ex-Fiat chap called Ricky who used to run the Hare and Hounds in Langtoft. Seem to recall he emigrated to the Med somewhere in the late-90's. Always had Italian stuff. (And FSO's). May not though.

[Captain Mainwaring]

There's plenty of them old Merc wagons still wheezing about in Greece, in fact while I was in Zante recently, more or less every HGV seemed to be a 80s/90s Merc or Volvo. I remember hiring a quad and going for a ride up this massive mountain road, which incidentially was a main route for these trucks to transport drinking water (apparently the local water isn't drinkable for anyone) between town to town. The sound they made while labouring up the hill was absolutely fantastic, truly menacing...reminded me so much of that truck from Duel.

[55bloke]

Interesting you say that, I too loved the sounds of those big old diesels slogging up the hills. Deep and throaty and oozing with grunt! And even the tick-over sounds delicious!

[RedSparrow]

Wow some great shitters there!The first unknown truck is a Toyota something.The blue (Lada?) pick-up is an FSO.

[Captain Mainwaring]

Proper loved it in Greece, not only is it a shite haven, it's just the most beautiful place...it's like a shit Italy.

[j-j]

WOW what a place. Roadworthiness tests non compulsory then?Feelin the love for the Red Kadett and Red Cortina (and the little blue Mitsubishi thing)Is it just me or does a lot of that stuff seem 'unintentionally' lowered?

[Captain Mainwaring]

Roadworthiness tests non compulsory then?

I'm assuming not. Some of the cars over there are well and truly shagged. We saw a Rascal over there which only had one headlight and no tailgate whatsoever. It truly is a shiter's paradise.

[55bloke]

Yeah, we saw lots of cars with less than the usual compliment of lights- no tail lights was fairly common, as was a lack of number plates. Have no idea if there's any kind of MoT equivalent. Whilst it's true there are a LOT more "old bangers" there than here, they're still a small percentage of the total number of cars. I was curious to know what sort of milages they cover in, say, 20 years, since the island is only very small. And, being very dry, I doubt rust is a big issue, despite being surrounded by the sea.

[Captain Mainwaring]

The amount of shite over there about which an English e-bayer would say 'BER IN MIND THIS IS A 24 YR OLD CAR SO NOT IN CONCORS CONDITIAN LOL BUT JUS NEEDS TCL' speaks volumes about the rust issue!

[Gompo]

Far better spots than I was expecting after your introduction. Not sure on my favourite but the Regatta sticks in my mind.Cheers.

[Lukas]

I was amazed at the prices being asked for shite motors out there- - look at this! And, it's not at all unusual.

Welcome to Euroland!

[reallyloud]

That neck of the woods is a true haven for shite, I went to Corfu a few years back and was thrilled with what I saw.

 

This is a great pic.

 

[Mr Lobster]

I've always found the Greek islands to be relatively good for shite. The Cycladic islands (Paros, Naxos, Ios, Santorini, Amorgos and possibly a couple of others) seem to have a good amount on them. Decent enough distance from the mainland - Santorini is about nine hours by ferry from Athens / Piraeus - helps I imagine.That said, there is a lot of old tat in Athens as well. If you take the metro from central Athens to the port at Piraeus you tend to see quite a lot of old tat parked on street corners.

[face]

I was amazed at the prices being asked for shite motors out there- - look at this! And, it's not at all unusual.

My folks live on Kefalonia, and when they went to buy a car, they had difficulty finding any second hand jobbies for sale - the Greeks generally buy a car brand new and run it until it drops........then leave it in a field somewhere. They ended up getting a brand new Vitara.I can remember a few years back when I was out there and one of their freinds had just payed around 1000 Euros for an old Datsun 120Y, which was in pretty shoddy condition. I had a drive and it went really well though.

[55bloke]

Hmmmm... perhaps we should buy up a container load of £200 motors, ship them out there, and sell them to fund a few weeks in a villa?! P.S. Deeply envious of you having family in that part of the world!